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I just tried it, but it will of course depend on how big the shoes in question are and what size feet you have!

I can fit a pair of men's running shoes (Brooks Beasts, UK size 11) in the main compartment on my Dyneema Pilot. They fit side to side, horizontally in the bag, but they're pretty chunky and although there's room at toe and heel they push out the back of the bag a bit. A less chunky shoe (Beasts are a motion control shoe with a very hefty sole to control pronation) would probably fit better.

I can't even fit one shoe into my Ballistic Co-Pilot.

In general, if you want to carry other stuff with a pair of running shoes I think the Pilot would be a better bet on pure capacity grounds. But again, if you are a very petite lady with size 3 feet (like my grandmother!) you will have a lot more leeway! What is your normal EDC load like?

I just tried it, but it will of course depend on how big the shoes in question are and what size feet you have!

I can fit a pair of men's running shoes (Brooks Beasts, UK size 11) in the main compartment on my Dyneema Pilot. They fit side to side, horizontally in the bag, but they're pretty chunky and although there's room at toe and heel they push out the back of the bag a bit. A less chunky shoe (Beasts are a motion control shoe with a very hefty sole to control pronation) would probably fit better.

I can't even fit one shoe into my Ballistic Co-Pilot.

In general, if you want to carry other stuff with a pair of running shoes I think the Pilot would be a better bet on pure capacity grounds. But again, if you are a very petite lady with size 3 feet (like my grandmother!) you will have a lot more leeway! What is your normal EDC load like?

The lining of all Pilots is 200d Dyneema. The exterior is 1050d ballistic nylon for Forest.

Your shoes would have to be pretty small to for in the side pockets. A smaller women's shoe size and low profile minimalist shoes might fit. Larger shoes definitely would not. It is only about 1.5-2" thick.

In the main comportment, they should fit one on to of the other. I can try packing a similar load and taking a picture this morning.

Your shoes would have to be pretty small to for in the side pockets. A smaller women's shoe size and low profile minimalist shoes might fit. Larger shoes definitely would not. It is only about 1.5-2" thick.

Intuitively (I am out of the country at the mo and don't have my Pilot with me), even a woman's track shoe as small as US 6.5 might be a tight fit, especially for ballistic Pilots. They are all chunky things! If you're talking about the usual track shoe with cushioning, ankle grip, etc., that is.

My $0.02 is that you will probably be able to just about squeeze in your gym-day EDC into a ballistic Pilot. Change of clothing in one front pocket (in a packing cube-type thing, I guess), toiletry bag in the other, water bottle in the centre pocket, keys strapped in front pocket, pens in front pocket, everything else in the main pocket. There may be some room to spare, actually. But @itsablur shall soon enlighten us all on this!

Just out of interest, I did try one of my (men's UK size 11) Brooks Beasts (they look quite similar to the Mizuno Kayano mentioned by the OP) in a front pocket of my Pilot. Result: the shoe is too long by a good couple of inches, and also too wide. The front end of the shoe will go in, but even if the back end would fit by length, there's no way the front pocket would ever close.

Life would be a lot simpler in many ways, if humans didn't have such large, awkwardly shaped, complicated feet.

I did post a pic of my EDC in my Pilot (Macbook 13", A5 Filofax, small water bottle etc) a while back, but the advanced search ne cooperate pas so I'm unable to post a link to it here. @maggiemee - have you considered one of the small backpacks instead? That might be more suitable for the kind of load you're carrying than a Pilot...

BTW - to all, in an earlier post, @moriond described a very useful way to search for pictures posted on the TB forums - especially if you remember the poster. In the main forum page, there is an Attachement Gallery section near the bottom of the page. When you go to that section, you can search for pictures by clicking the search text word on the top right of the title bar. When the pictures come up from your search and you find the picture you want (may be several pages to look through), look for the upsidedown triangle at the bottom right of the picture you are looking for. Selecting this will bring up a menu where you can view the post the picture came from. I find this function extremely useful - thanks @moriond!

@maggieme, there is another thread talking about EDC and Gym carry in an Ego (and I tried a Zephyr a well). Perhaps this will be of some help as another option:

I have a co-pilot and Ego. Basically co-pilot as my main EDC and Ego for gym days.

For me, the deciding factor for a gym bag will be how well a pair of running shoes fit inside. Shoes are unfortunately of a weird shape with some bulk to it. And I don't like to squash my running shoes. Furthermore, I work in an office setting so after I change into my gym attire, my leathers shoes go into the bag, so I definitely will not want to squash those. And the bag still has to have room for my EDC after all the gym stuff goes in.

The co-pilot cannot fit your shoes. But I got this as my EDC because the Ego will be overkill on non-gym days. Plus the water bottle compartment is absolutely genius.

The Ego will fit shoes and then some. In fact you can fit 2 pairs of shoes in it. I basically put my shoes in a shoebag and then the whole shoebag into the Ego. The Ego is tall enough to place the shoebag vertically, leaving space at the sides for your other change of clothes and toiletries. And all these in just the main compartment. The front compartment under the flap will be able to accommodate all your EDC stuff. The largest items in my EDC is my Ipad mini, and another Deuter pouch that holds a whole bottle of Adidas perfume and wet wipes. My 2 cellphones and wallet goes in there as well. You can check out the thread @tpnl pointed out to see the full list. In short, the front compartment of the Ego alone will fit EVERYTHING I fit in the co-pilot, less the water bottle.

I think the next question you need to ask yourself then, will be whether you prefer a backpack or messenger. I only carry my bags cross-body so definitely a messenger for me, thus the co-pilot and Ego.

Here is a top down of the bag fully packed this way. Still room for your other stuff.

Now here is the same stuff, but with some fairly monsterous men's size 9 Reebok ZigTech shoes (I normally wear size 10, but these fit fine).

My shoes are placed sole to sole, and heel to toe straight down in the main compartment. From experience, this provides a more "flat" load on both the back and front of this pocket. If you just go side by side straight down, the toe side is narrower than the heel side which bulges either in or out of the bag.

Towel on top of shoes, and remaining clothes go into the side pocket.

Top down for comparison. It's a little fatter, but there is still some room for a few things.

It's maybe not the best bag for going to the gym, but it could work depending on what you need to pack for the day.

FWIW, I can also fit men's size 10 dress shoes in the main compartment of my Co-Pilot. That's a bit more of a struggle, and I certainly wouldn't be able to get all of the other items you mentioned in there, but it does go to show that the Pilot is appreciably more spacious.

Thanks for all the help. It looks like putting shoes inside the pilot will be a tight fit... I guess I can use a shoe bag when I go to the gym.
( I want a messenger bag for day to day use, so the synapse is out)

If I get the Co-Pilot instead, can the laptop fit inside? the dimensions are 12×8.2×0.5–1.5 in.
I like the black/wasabi co-pilot colour.